Bobzhuman

A little late, I apologize. This is taken from an ongoing series of letters from Col. Mike Walker (retired) to Marine Corps associates...

Marines,

It would be grand if Muqtada Sadr keeps his promise to leave the government and takes all his minions with him over the Amman meeting this week but he is such an incorrigible liar that I doubt it. If he does it will present a great opportunity to advance the cause of peace in Iraq if Prime Minister Malaki and the Coalition have the courage to take advantage of the situation.

Tell the resigning members of Muqtada’s cabal “Thank you for your service. Your resignations are accepted effective immediately.” The President of Iraq should refrain from any calls for the government to collapse or for new elections to be held. He should charge the Prime Minister to form a transcendental cabinet to see the country through the emergency.

As for the legislature, keep those who remain for they will better represent the Iraqis who want to move forward, who are willing to put country ahead of sectarianism. It can also strengthen the position of the Sunnis within the government which will serve to unify rather than further divide the country.

Then the Iraqi Security Forces allied with the Multi-National Forces in Iraq need to get rid of the Madhi Army once and for all. If Muqtada Sadr wishes to martyr himself at its head then so be it. He is a pawn of Iran. Iran’s strategy for Iraq is neither sophisticated nor novel. All one has to do is look to Lebanon. Substitute Muqtada Sadr for Hassam Nasrallah and the Madhi Army for Hezbollah and you have it. In Sadr they hope, in the near future, to have a political force through which Iran can directly influence events in Iraq and if political action fails they can achieve their ends military through Sadr’s private army.

Iraqi democracy is and will continue to be an unappetizing thing to watch but that is to be expected. We helped to establish democratic roots in South Korea in the 1950’s. That seed grew slowly despite many setbacks. It withstood many strong attacks that often threatened to kill it. But it survived because the democracy is a powerful idea. Korean democracy only began to thrive in the 1990’s, forty years later. The situation in Iraq is similar. The democracy is a fledgling undertaking in Iraq today, but it is worth our effort to stick with it in the full knowledge that it may well take two generations before it fully takes hold.

One other note on the meeting in Amman this week, some have argued that it should have been in Baghdad. Perhaps, but two thoughts on why Amman is possibly better, first it is an ideal place to advance the regional issues that have prolonged the war in Iraq. King Abdullah of Jordan recognizes that the Islamic world is in a great upheaval and that three Muslim on Muslim wars on his borders are a real possibility (Hamas v Palestinian Authority/Fatah, Sunni(+Christians) v Shi'a (Hezbollah) in Lebanon, Sunni (Saddamists/al Qaeda) v Shi'a (Madhi Army) in Iraq. Second, it will be far easier for those representing the Sunni insurgents to have their voice heard in neutral Amman than it would in any location in Iraq. Having that voice heard is critical. Wars do not end until those warring effectively communicate.

Semper Fi,
Mike Walker